Presidential Memorandum

This Memorandum instructs agencies, with guidance from OMB, to focus on five priorities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the federal acquisition system. Priorities include: (1) strengthen contract management and internal review practices; (2) maximize the use of competition in contracting; (3) improve how contracts are structured; (4) build the skills of the acquisition workforce; and (5) clarify the role of outsourcing.

Public Input

On May 29, 2009, OMB published a federal register notice soliciting public input on the framework established by the Memorandum on Government Contracting and how the priorities it identifies should be addressed – especially those associated with maximizing the use of competition, improving how contract types are selected, building the skills of the acquisition workforce, and strengthening the management of the "multi-sector" workforce of federal employees and private sector contractors, including the role of outsourcing.

On June 18, 2009, OMB held a public meeting to further encourage public comment through dialogue.

OMB Guidance and Reports

This memorandum provides guidance to agencies on reviewing existing contracts and acquisition practices. This memorandum requires agencies to: (1) review their existing contracts and acquisition practices and develop an acquisition savings plan to save 7 percent of baseline contract spending by the end of FY 2011; and (2) reduce by 10 percent the share of dollars obligated in FY 2010 under new contract actions that are awarded with high-risk contracting authorities.

This memorandum requires agencies to begin the process of developing and implementing policies, practices, and tools for managing the multi-sector workforce. The memorandum requires program, human capital, acquisition and budget and finance offices to collaborate on the following actions: (1) adopt a framework for planning and managing the multi-sector workforce; (2) conduct a multi-sector workforce planning pilot; and (3) when considering in-sourcing, use criteria developed by OMB to facilitate consistent and sound application of statutory requirements.

This memorandum describes the actions agencies are taking to improve our acquisition system. The attachment in this memorandum outlines several steps agencies can take to maximize the value received through blanket purchase agreements and ensure valuable savings opportunities are not being lost.

This memorandum provides general guidance and management practices that agencies can use to reduce contract risk. The memorandum includes guidelines for an ongoing review of high-risk contracting and information on an assessment process that will be used to gauge agencies' progress.

Supplementary Materials for Agencies

Multi-Sector Workforce Planning Pilot(coming soon)

OMB memorandum M-09-26 "Managing the Multi-Sector Workforce" requires agencies to conduct a multi-sector workforce planning pilot to gain experience with multi-sector workforce planning and to use the analyses from the planning to strengthen operations. This document provides supplementary information to help agencies in planning and conducting the pilot.

The guideposts in this document are designed as a reference to help agencies analyze and improve how effectively their acquisition function is integrated with the program and project activities they support. This document will help agency officials with responsibility for the successful outcomes of agency programs, projects, and acquisitions to strengthen the alignment of their acquisition, project, and program activities.

Agency Achievements

This section highlights examples showing how agencies are meeting the call of the President’s Memorandum to eliminate waste and inefficiency from government contracting and achieve savings and performance improvements for our citizens. New achievements will be highlighted each month.

National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA)

NASA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has implemented a strategy for the consolidation of a variety of software and maintenance contracts into Enterprise License Agreements (ELAs) that provide Agency-wide support under single contracts rather than multiple contracts across the Agency. NASA’s Shared Services Center Enterprise License Management Team regularly reviews the agency’s contract requirements to identify and consolidate software and maintenance products, utilizing small business participation whenever possible. The ELA Team has consolidated 4 contracts this year resulting in approximately $4.5M in savings.